Stanley The Sparrow

You may remember that a few weeks ago I went to the book launch of Kerry Lord's new book Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight.  Well, while I was there I was given an exclusive pattern for a sparrow - a proper cute little fellow too.

I couldn't wait to get to work on him.... 

He is so cute when he is finished,  Not sure if it is the eyes, or the tummy, or the knobbly knees, but it all adds up to cuteness overload.

He has fluttered off to a new home now, where he has been named 'Stanley'.

I think it suits him very well  :)

Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight - the book launch at Toft Farm

A couple of weekends ago I made my way down the long length of the M6 to go to a book launch.   You might remember reading about Dave The Seagull's adventures HERE.

The book launch was at Toft Farm in Rugby, Warwickshire.

You can visit the farm and shop, and lovely tea-room - more details HERE.

The shop is glorious, with wool and woolly related stuff everywhere.

Alpaca fleece teddy bears adorn the walls, along side scarves, buttons, tools, patterns and of course, loads of Edward's Menagerie animals.

.... and the birds  :)   Of course, the birds.

This is Kerry Lord herself, the author of Edward's Menagerie and Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight.

Graciously signing my book for me  :)

So, we sat down and listened to Kerry do some little talks on crochet tips, sewing up tips, and other tips to make your bird's all lovely.  We could also sit and crochet a little ice-cream cone while we listened, which was great fun.

And as a special thank you for attending, we got a crochet Sparrow pattern, which is so cute!

Of course, it would have been most rude not to have tried the tea-room.  But it took me a long time to choose a cake as they all sounded so delicious. In the end, the Bakewell Tart won - and what a good choice it was.   :)

Then it was off for a tour around the farm to meet the Alpacas.

What cute little creatures they are.  So fluffy and doe-eyed.

....and just look at the baby!  Can you get much cuter than that?

After the tour, which took about an hour, it was back to the farm shop to toast the new book and enjoy a glass of bubbles.

If you would like to read the review I did for the book you can find it HERE.

The next open day to be held at Toft farm is Saturday 19th December. I would fully recommend that you pop yourself along as it will be great fun. You can find more out about it by visiting their website.

http://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk/Article_Pages_OpenDays.aspx

The adventures of Dave The Seagull

If you follow my Facebook page you will have already met Dave.  He is a seagull from Kerry Lord's new book Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight.

I made Dave last week and at the weekend, he went on a trip down the the launch of the new book.... but first he had to accompany me to a crochet class I was teaching  :)

He was eager to get going, but he was very patient, for a Seagull, and sat there quietly observing.

And at 8.00pm that evening we set off on the (what we thought would be 3.5 hour) trip to Rugby.

But a few hours later, after being stuck in traffic - and by stuck I mean 'stationary' - for over an hour then being diverted off the M6, Dave was getting a little tetchy.

The 3.5 hour trip turned into a 6 hour trip, so by the time we reached the hotel it was two in the morning, and we were all tired and a bit grumpy.

Still, we got a 'welcome' drink - yep, at 2.00am I was faced with two glasses of wine, which of course I had to drink before brushing my teeth and climbing into bed.  Dave helped me.

A nice big strong brew only 6 hours later woke us up enough to face the day.

We found a nice place for breakfast called The Bell Inn in Hillmorton, the breakfast was delicious as Dave feasted down on Croque Monsieur (with mushrooms in place of ham as Dave is not a meat eater)

Then we headed off to Toft Farm, where Kerry Lord was having her new book launch, a blog to follow on that later.  Dave was so excited to meet Kerry, the very person who designed him.

He was also excited to meet all the other animals and birds dotted around the shop, but he was a little overwhelmed by the size of this monkey   :)

He was happy to sit for a while, whilst I crocheted him an ice-cream.

Which he happily tucked into for his afternoon snack.

Before helping me with my lovely piece of home-made Bakewell Tart.

Afterwards Dave met some more Daves.  Dave, Dave and Fat Dave.  He was thrilled to meet some of his own kind and they had a right good chatter together.

But he wasn't quite to sure about meeting the Alpacas, I think he thought they might eat him!

To calm his nerved after the Alpaca encounter, Dave then helped me drink some bubbles as we toasted the new book in.

But, the bubbles went right to his head and he needed a little nap in some super soft fleece.

The journey home turned into another 6 hour trip, so Dave took the opportunity to enjoy the ride and take in the air   :)

Once we got home again he was such a tired little seagull that he went straight to bed without any fuss.

Dave is now off to a new home, so his adventures will be ongoing, I am sure   :)

Dave The Seagull - from Kerry Lord's new book

Meet Dave.....

I was sent Kerry Lord's new book "Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight" to review.

You may remember that I made a few animals last year from her original book "Edward's Menagerie", I made an Ardvark, a Koala, a Bunny and a Cat.

So when I got the email offering me a chance to review the book, of course I jumped at it.

I got a PDF copy which I opened on my iPad using iBooks.   In this book, same as the first, the patterns are laid out differently to other crochet books I have used.   You get the basic body patterns in the beginning of the book, making up instructions in the back of the book, and any adaptations on each single pattern as you work through the book.

This can be a little frustrating as you are constantly flicking back and forward to see which part to do next.  For example, you turn to the pattern you want to make and it says "work basic body pattern" - so off you go to the front and find the basic body pattern, to which the first instruction is "work 6DC into the foundation ring", so then you have to go to the back of the book to find out how to do the foundation ring.  Which is actually just DC2 then work 6 x DC into the 2nd CH.  It wouldn't be too much harder to just put this instruction on the basic pattern to save you flicking back and forth.

Colour changes are also mentioned on each pattern page, so you need to make note of these or you will forget to change as you work  :)

Obviously once you have made a few you remember the instructions, but in the interim it's just a little frustrating - ESPECIALLY when it is a PDF version.

That is my only grumble, other than that this book, as the first, is just gorgeous.  It's beautifully set out, easy enough to follow and is concise in the directions, even though they are scattered about all over the place.

I decided to make Dave, the Seagull.  Because where we park at work there is a seagull issue - mainly with the pooping on our cars and making an awful mess.

However, I have no issues with seagulls, I have issues with the humans that leave the mess that seagulls eat, therefore encouraging them to hang around populated areas before complaining about them - but that's another rant   :)

So, Dave it was - I added my own little addition of a seagull poop so I could photograph him on my colleagues car  (who doesn't share my respect and wants to shoot them all  ;) )

Dave will be donated to that colleague after he has been on a little road trip with me.  So look out for him in future blogs.

In the meantime, if you fancy Kerry's beautiful books for yourself, you can find the links below.

Edward's Menagerie.
Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight.

Edward's Menagerie - Rabbit & Cat

As well as making Winston the Aardvark and Samuel the Koala for Christmas gifts, I also made Emma the Bunny and Alexandre the Russian Blue Cat for my great niece and nephew.

Meet Emma, the Bunny.

And Alexandre the Russian Blue Cat.

Both are sporting wooden bum buttons so no one forgets who made them  :)

Again, if you are thinking about getting this book, then do, I highly recommend it.  The patterns are all formed of one basic pattern so you can get to grips with it really quickly.  It is easy to follow and the results are very cute.  You can by it on Amazon by clicking THIS LINK.

ps: The Amazon links I've scattered throughout the page are affiliated  if you click and buy I might get a few pennies.  

Edward's Menagerie - Aardvark & Koala

My lovely Hubster treated me to the Edward's Menagerie book by Kerry Lord.

It really is a gorgeous book and I couldn't wait to start working from it.

I knew immediately which the first project would be, and that was an Aardvark for my daughter, Shona (age 21) for Christmas, immediately followed by a Koala for her partner Marie  :)

Meet Winston, the Aardvark.

And his friend Samuel, the Koala.

And they both have wooden bum buttons to show who made them  :)

If you are thinking about getting this book, then do, I highly recommend it.  The patterns are all formed of one basic pattern so you can get to grips with it really quickly.  It is easy to follow and the results are very cute.  You can by it on Amazon by clicking THIS LINK.

ps: The Amazon links I've scattered throughout the page are affiliated  if you click and buy I might get a few pennies.